Live in an unfortunately located apartment or rural area (or any other cellular phantom zone)? Verizon will let you turn your net connection into 40 feet of 3G. This is still, however, a pricy fix for bad service.
So it's a quandary. Your house is in a service dead zone, and you don't want to shell out $150 more for something you're paying for already. What's worth more, principle or a functioning phone? That decision might be over.
One mysteriously labeled AT&T "VIP" customer (they've complained, politely? Love wearing AT&T t-shirts?) has been gifted one of those handy MicroCell, and no one seems to know why. Viral marketing stunt? Rounding error? Whatever. Free 3G femtocell: Updated.
I tapped dial. There's ringing, and the call goes through. It's the first call I've made from my house in two years. All it took was AT&T's 3G MicroCell to give me 5 solid bars where there were none.
I tapped dial. There's ringing, and the call goes through. It's the first call I've made from my house in two years. All it took was AT&T's 3G MicroCell to give me 5 solid bars where there were none.
Now that Microcells are coming, it's a good time to imagine how wonderful our reception will be. And how AT&T should be giving these away for free or less than $150, despite the zero monthly rate. [Repost on Giz]
Sure, we kinda think AT&T's cell-reception boosting MicroCell 3G should be like, free, since it's using your pipes to route calls, but I suppose this is about as swell as we could've hoped for—$150 with no monthly fee.
It's no secret that AT&T has been overwhelmed by data-munching iPhone users, and reliability remains sketchy in many key areas. So if the MicroCell 3G is your best option for proper coverage (using your own bandwidth), shouldn't it be free?
AT&T's 3G MicroCell uses your Internet connection to act as a mini 3G tower—something iPhone users in particular have waited for. And after reports it could arrive in select locations this week, AT&T is now providing (some) details:
If you are an iPhone owner anxiously awaiting the release of AT&T's first femtocell device, the payoff may be coming in the next few days for select markets that include: Atlanta, San Antonio, Seattle and North Carolina.
AT&T femtocell, the Wi-Fi-like hotspot that improves AT&T signals in your home, is still on track for a 2009 release. But now that I'm rocking 7.2Mbps in Chicago anyway, the prospect is not quite exciting as it used to be. [mobileburn]
If there's any phone in the whole world coupled with any service in the whole world that could benefit from femtocell technology, it's the iPhone on AT&T. Luckily, the iPhone has received an update.
An AT&T employee says that a U-Verse IPTV box with Femtocell capability is in the works. That's one set top unit that'll have TV, telephone, internet and improve cellular reception.
AT&T's has just pulled the shroud off their first femtocell device (a box that produces cellphone signals at home). It's called the 3G MicroCell. And we have a few details regarding how it will work.
I have to hand it to the guys at Motorola for coming up with the idea to integrate a femtocell and a VoIP soft phone into a digital photo frame. Femtocells help cover weak spots in a cellular network by sending calls over the internet—which is a good idea except that it would involve yet another device cluttering up…
Sprint and Samsung's femtocell answer to T-Mo's Hotspot@Home is now available everywhere after localized tests in Indy and Denver apparently went well enough to push it nationwide. The box connects to your router, allowing you to make calls over the web with any Sprint CDMA phone. It's $100 for the box, plus $15 per…
It's been a while since we've heard about Sprint's Airave femtocell-basically a little box connects to your router and sends your calls over the internet so you have cell service even where you don't-but it looks like it's finally set to launch nation-wide, maybe as early as July 15. (It's been (in Denver and…
Femtocell, femtocell, femtocell. Get used to it, because it's a word you'll be hearing a lot of from now on. Yesterday, Verizon Wireless promised to offer broadband-connected mini cell towers (yep, femtocells) to customers in 2008. We're told that products such as the EV-Do model just introduced by Motorola and Airvana
Mid-Tex Cellular systems out of De Leon, Texas is currently running both GSM and CDMA network using a software-based radio system on nine of of their cellular towers. Because the Vanu, Inc. designed software can be upgraded easily, there is no need for costly new hardware when supporting new or incompatible networks.…
